Did it seem like we had more Ivy Bridge rumors at this point last year than Haswell rumors this year? Feels like we've barely heard anything since late last year and I'm waiting on it for my next machine. Am I just missing the rumors, or are we in a holding pattern?

What kind of machine will you be building? Haswell is geared to be to Ivy Bridge what it in turn was to Sandy Bridge, primarily a development of the graphics part. TDP's will even go up a bit because of the more powerful graphics. I wouldn't be surprised if the release schedule for the desktop Haswells ends up being delayed due to high stocks for Ivy Bridge parts. That too just like before.

I'm well aware of what Haswell brings. I'm wanting to build an HTPC that can play Diablo3 acceptably, and hoping the GT3 graphics will allow that without a graphics card. And I'm a bit of a chip geek, so I enjoy playing with the new ones.

I think its probably because Haswell isn't a major change from Ivy Bridge, Intel call Haswell a tock so there isn't as many changes as when going to new a architecture.Or do i have my ticks and tocks mixed up

Yeah, I can never remember if the process or architecture change is the tick. Either way, I'm honestly fine with getting an i5 from the first tranch of CPUs released - that's usually where the strong graphics are anyway; the i3-xxx5s don't usually come out until much later. Gaudy CPU power never goes out of style.

The only thing that i wish would happen is Nvidia creating a Optimus based setup for haswell, they already doing it fine on laptops, i dont see why they cant just do it with desktops.... to have a high consuming GPU slept until its needed would be very appealing for a lot of people (i think), but i somewhat doubt it will happen on desktops.

I think its probably because Haswell isn't a major change from Ivy Bridge, Intel call Haswell a tock so there isn't as many changes as when going to new a architecture.Or do i have my ticks and tocks mixed up

Haswell is a Tock, but Tocks bring the new architecture. In this case the Tock brings significant changes in power saving processes beyond just power states. The next tick will be the manufacturing change to 14nm. Intel's goal is to get Haswell into more platforms, eg tablets, where power has been Intel's problem. Also the GT3 doubles the number of video execution units from the HD4000 basically doubling video performance.

I'm well aware of what Haswell brings. I'm wanting to build an HTPC that can play Diablo3 acceptably, and hoping the GT3 graphics will allow that without a graphics card.

It certainly should at lower resolutions like around 720p. Even with a decent amount of embedded chip memory I can't see how it would be any less constrained by RAM bandwidth than any of todays technology, as far as games go. Could make for a great boost to high resolution desktop use though.

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And I'm a bit of a chip geek, so I enjoy playing with the new ones.

True, that never gets boring. An expensive habit when it comes to Intel chips though.

I'm wanting to build an HTPC that can play Diablo3 acceptably, and hoping the GT3 graphics will allow that without a graphics card.

Blizzard games aren't GPU intensive...and tend to just need a fast dual core. Assuming 1080p, you could probably play it with the HD4000 if you really dialed down the quality level (no AA, etc). The GT3 is supposed to double the fps compared to HD4000...but you still won't be able to turn up the eye candy.

Blizzard games aren't GPU intensive...and tend to just need a fast dual core. Assuming 1080p, you could probably play it with the HD4000 if you really dialed down the quality level (no AA, etc). The GT3 is supposed to double the fps compared to HD4000...but you still won't be able to turn up the eye candy.

Indeed. I played the bejeesus out of Starcraft 2 on HD3000, with the only issues coming when playing as Protoss with lots of power circles on-screen. Diablo 3 is more intensive, as I understand. Fortunately, I'm not in any particular hurry. I do not, however, want to build a shiny new desktop, only to have the new toys released a couple of months later. It'll get a real graphics card too, eventually - nVidia 700 series, when those are out.

I’m not sure that pre release info and previews for Haswell is later than for previous architectures. Sandy Bridge was released early January and Ivy Bridge in early March but with Haswell supposedly due early June so still quite a while away. Anandtech previewed Ivy Bridge about 6 weeks before release whilst Haswell is probably still 3.5 months away.

As for using it in a HTPC for gaming the rumours suggest that GT3 is only for mobile CPUs so you may be out of luck. The focus is much more on the mobile variants and especially the low power versions (17W and less) which are moving to a SoC.

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